Recently, Hank Forrest wrote a letter regarding the ineptitude of Hoboken’s current administration. Mayor Zimmer has big ideas – instead of maintaining our streets and fixing potholes she wants the City Council to bond for huge urban re-engineering projects. This week she announced her plan to stop a repeat of the Sandy situation by walling off Hoboken. When she was first elected, we were going to have four flood pumps. Three and a half years into her term, we have one. Four years ago, the soccer field fell into the Hudson River. It’s still there – Mayor Zimmer is now building a new one at 1600 Park (whereas when part of Sinatra Drive administered by the county fell into the river the Hudson County government got it fixed within six months).

Sandy may have been the precursor to more “storm surge” driven flooding but most of the flooding Hoboken has historically seen is the result of a combination of rainwater and groundwater seeping up, not the river overflowing its banks.

Other than being a boondoggle for the firms this administration likes to hire, the only positive thing about Mayor Zimmer’s flood wall plan is that under normal Hoboken flooding conditions she will finally deliver a city-wide municipal swimming pool. Just another of the big projects she likes to advocate to cover the fact she has been unable to perform the real duties of maintaining our city.